Category Archives: quilts

Halfway through and still thinking of more patchwork

Last Monday I had my third chemo in the day hospital. This means that I am halfway through. After the fourth chemo a test shall be done if the cancer is gone, but anyway 2 more chemos needed to complete the entire cycle. Each chemo is seven hours and during this session I have enough time to think about new patchwork projects. With my new iPhone I can do some web surfing and look for brand new modern fabrics. A really nice website shop for patchwork fabrics is : Hawthorne Threads .

Over the last few weeks I have done some sewing work that I would like to show:

Strubbel got a new patchwork wall hanging behind his mat. This is more a practical solution for not painting the wall every year. I am not sure if he is fond of it, but for me it was an interesting  new type of patchwork with free hand piecing –  also called improvisational. And using a new style of quilting technique – free motion machine quilting with a darning foot.

The other smaller project was finishing 2 more pillow covers from the orange series for our lounge. This time they are finished with bows instead of a zipper.  A bow can be a nice extra decoration on the pillow cover that I want to use more for new projects.

And to finish definitely my orange fabrics I decided to make some pot holders. These were inspired by Malka Dubrawsky and published in her new book Fresh Quilting. Alternatively you can visit her website : a stitch in dye. This is also one of my favourite blogs for her wonderful feeling and combination of strong bright colors.

 

Last year I bought some fabrics that are still waiting for a project – this one is on the way :

Castle Peeps from Lizzy House

The top, batting and quilt backing are basted together and prepared for quilting. I prefer to use special safety pins for quilters (with a curve) instead of glueing the three layers together. The glue works well when using the walking foot of your sewing machine for straight line quilting. But with free motion quilting I made the experience with uneven stitches and a feeling that the needle gets “stuck” on the glue and can not work properly.

 

Till next time, hopefully with some new ideas, Barbora

3 weeks have passed since the first chemo

So 3 weeks have passed very quickly. The time has come for the second chemo. Now I know what to expect from all the medication and how my body reacts to the treatment. The tumor has dissolved, I can’t feel it anymore in my breast. Well, lets hope that this is a good sign and that the therapy is taking the right direction. I have been a bit week over the last 10 days – got a strong cold with some fever.

Got also some other things organised : like a wig. For the last few years I have always had a short haircut. The wig is supplied with medium long hair and I decided to keep it as log as possible. As I have the next half a year with no own hair, I want to try different hair does with the wig. I can change the hair length a little bit. A good friend of mine is a hairdresser and is happy to help me to find an ideal wig style.

I am trying to carry on with my life as usual. Only the bad cold was quite a set back. I hope that within the next one or two weeks I’ll be back to my strength and energy. And I am looking forward to go walking our dog Strubbel. He is a cute catalan sheepdog just over a year old and very lively. He likes to learn new things and is always happy to run around.

catalan sheepdog I have some patchwork projects on my mind that I want to realize. Just convert the ideas into action with my hands so that everybody can see the results. First I have to make pictures of my last projects. I like to document what I make – a series of cushion covers for our living room and a wall protection curtain next to the dog bed.

Next time I let my thoughts flow I hopefully have my second chemo already behind me – this would be one third done !!!

 

Till next time, greetings Barbora

New Horizons

It has been some time without taking care of my newly created blog. I am still a “new kid on the blog” and finding my way around the WordPress design.

The year has changed as well as my personal situation. Had a lot of enthusiasm to start writing regularly a few words about my whereabouts, but was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas.

So everything slowed down and priorities have changed. I am going through 6 cycles of chemotherapy, but looking forward to start some new patchwork and quilting projects this year. My next goal for the future is also to write down a few simple tutorials that are free for anyone interested.

Maybe a cancer diagnose is also a chance to break out of the day-to-day discipline and start something new in my life. I want to concentrate more on things that I enjoy and forget about the rest.